


Three Men and a Baby

by codenamecalico



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Baby!Jack, Chuck is a bad father (but only mentioned), Family Drama, Fatherhood, Fluff, Found Family, also they all weirdly have rom com jobs because I guess thats what I wanted, bookstore, cas is a good dad, dadstiel, extreme fluff, its just some sweet Jack and his Dads content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:47:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21640417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/codenamecalico/pseuds/codenamecalico
Summary: To say that life hadn't gone the way that Cas had expected it to was an understatement in the least. His life had been simple, and he liked it. There was something to be said for simplicity. He lived alone above the bookshop that he had inherited from his father. He made his own hours, he didn't really have to answer to anyone, and for the most part had few big struggles beyond running the shop, but then, that was before.It wasn’t a normal situation when your brother gets a girl pregnant then gets sent to jail, but then again, as much as he pretended to be, Cas wasn't really a normal person. Her name was Kelly, the girl, and she didn't survive the delivery, leaving the question open as to who was going to take care of the child.Cas had lots of brothers, lots of family, but for some reason or another none of them could do it. Micheal was still in and out of mental hospitals, Rafiel hadn't been seen in years, and honestly, Gabe could barely keep himself afloat much less a kid. Cas had a job, a home, and the most mental stability of any of them, so of course, the baby went to him.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 13





	1. Beginnings

To say that life hadn't gone the way that Cas had expected it to was an understatement in the least. His life had been simple, and he liked it. There was something to be said for simplicity. He lived alone above the bookshop that he had inherited from his father. He made his own hours, he didn't really have to answer to anyone, and for the most part had few big struggles beyond running the shop, but then, that was before. 

It wasn’t a normal situation, when your brother gets a girl pregnant then gets sent to jail, but then again, as much as he pretended to be, Cas wasn't really a normal person. Her name was Kelly, the girl, and she didn't survive the delivery, leaving the question open as to who was going to take care of the child.

Cas had lots of brothers, lots of family, but for some reason or another none of them could do it. Micheal was still in and out of mental hospitals, Rafiel hadn't been seen in years, and honestly, Gabe could barely keep himself afloat much less a kid. Cas had a job, a home, and the most mental stability of any of them, so of course, the baby went to him. 

*  
“Woah, Cas, thats crazy. What are you going to do?” 

That's what Sam had asked him when he first told him about the baby. 

Sam Winchester and his brother Dean had lived on the same street as Cas for almost ten years at that point. The two of them lived over the movie shop turned merchandise store they ran. Dean who chose what movies to keep in stock and Sam made sure that they actually stayed in business, the partnership actually worked pretty well. They were a good team. Over the years, the three of them became friends. Out of that friendship grew the tradition of the Friday night airing of grievances, a weekly event where they met at one of their homes to drink and talk about whatever had been troubling them that week. It was therapeutic in a way. Sometimes it was dumb stuff like costomers who were rude or electronics that broke before their time and other times it was more serious, sometimes it was less of a grievence and more of a plea for advice. It was at one of these gatherings that Cas brought up the baby for the first time.

“What are you going to do?”

It was a good question, Cas wasn't really sure.

“I don't know.” He said honestly between sips of the whiskey he had broken out for the occasion. “but...he doesn't have anyone else. If I don't take him in who will?”

Cas had been carefully looking down to study his hands the whole conversation. He was ashamed, even if he didn't want to, he knew what he was supposed to do. It was just terrible that he was hesitating. That's when Dean laid a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look up. 

“Hey look Cas, whatever you decide, just know that you won't be in this alone. You have us,” Dean started. Sam raised his beer in agreement “and I may not know anything about babies but...well between the three of us, we could probably figure it out. How hard could it be right?”

It would be one of the hardest transitions that Cas had ever gone through. 

*  
The next week after a few people checked to make sure that Cas’s apartment was suitable for the baby, someone dropped him off and that was pretty much it. 

The baby was only a few weeks old and he was so small, Cas had never seen a baby that young before. His mother had named him Jack, something she had the forethought to mention to someone before she went into the delivery room. 

It suited him. 

Jack was a cheerful baby. His smile was contagious and when Cas held him all he could think about was how much he wanted to shield this child from the harshness of the world. He brought a kind of love to Cas that he never expected to feel. 

It had been a long time since Cas had talked to Jack's father, his brother. He had a name but that didn't matter much because no one had called him anything but Lucifer for years. It was almost like an inside joke with their family, except jokes were supposed to be funny and nothing that Lucifer had ever done was funny. He had terrorized all of them. It was his fault that Micheal was in a mental hospital, it was his fault that Raffiel had left, and that wasn't even counting the things that he had done to people outside of their family. He had spent more time in jail than out of it. He was the single worst person that Cas had ever met, so it was amazing when he looked down at the fragile little baby in his arms to think that he came from such a monster. 

Jack was nothing like Lucifer and if Cas had his way, that wouldn't change. He was going to make it his mission to see that Jack was the best thing to come out of Lucifer's life. It wasn't that he wasn't scared anymore, because he certainly still was, but more that now, holding Jack, he understood better what was at stake and was ready to play his part. 

*  
Sam met Jack first. 

At first, Cas had asked both of them to stay away for a little bit because he was supposed to try and limit the germs that the baby came in contact with but about a week after Jack arrived Cas was having a rather rough night and decided to take the risk. Jack had been crying for over an hour and nothing Cas did seemed to make any difference, so in desperation, he called the Winchesters for help. 

Sam answered the phone. He must have just woken up because whatever he tried to speak into the phone in greeting only came out in mumbled gibberish. 

“Sam, I need help. It’s Jack, he won’t stop crying. I think there is something wong.” Cas almost pleaded. The sound of distress in Cas’s voice snapped Sam out of his sleepy trance. 

“Yeah, uh, sorry Cas,” He said, his words picking up steam as he spoke “Dean is out, convention in New York but I’ll be right over. We’ll figure it out.” with that he hung up and within 10 minuetes he was at Cas’s door half dressed and carrying a laptop that already had a webpage up about how to get babies to sleep. 

Eventually, after trying everything else, they found themselves sitting in Cas’s living room with Jack shut in the other room alone, still crying. One of the websites had suggested this. The idea was that eventually the baby would give up and go to sleep. 

“Sam I don't like this.” Cas grumbled. He knew that logically this would work. They had checked and there was nothing physically wrong with him, eventually, Jack would tire himself out and go to sleep, but it felt wrong leaving him alone like that. “Is there anything else on the website we could try?”

Sam frantically clicked around on the page but didn't seem to get anywhere. 

“I mean we’ve tried the rest of it.” Sam sounded concerned as well. “What about like secrets from home? Anything your parents ever did?” Sam asked the question innocently, clearly not really knowing that Cas’s only parent was definitely the kind of person to just leave the baby to cry rather than care to tend to it. It was fair. Cas tried not to talk about it much. He held back the urge to say something about in in that moment, dwelling on his past wasn't going to help. 

“No, you?” Cas asked, less innocently. He knew that the Winchester’s father hadn't exactly been the best father after their mother had died but maybe there was something from before all of that. Sam raised his eyebrows and let out a single quiet sarcastic ha. “So that's a no.”

“Yeah, no.” Sam confirmed and then glanced guiltily to the door that Jack was behind. “But I’m going to call Dean, he was older, maybe he remembers something I don't.” 

Cas nodded. It felt like as good a plan as any. While Sam was making the call Cas left him alone to get Jack from the room they had left him in. His face was red from the tears but when Cas picked him up his crying subsided a little. 

“What is it that you need.” Cas mumbled into the back of the baby’s head as he swooshed him back and forth. Somewhere in the middle of it, he felt a nudge at his arm. It was Sam nudging him with his cell phone.

“He wants to talk to you.”

It was strange, at least Cas thought so, but he obliged, momentarily handing Jack over to Sam so that he could take the phone. 

“Dean?”

“Hey Cas.” He sounded tired too, they must have woken him up. “Listen, I'm not sure if it will work but I have an idea. I want you to just try talking to him, Dad used to do that with Sam. Always knocked him right out. Speak quietly and slowly and with any hope he’ll be out before you know it.” 

Cas let out a little sigh of relief, he wasn't sure if it would work but at least it was something to try. 

“Thank you Dean.”

“No problem, and Cas, from what Sam told me it you sounded pretty wound up so just, try not to stress yourself out okay? The kid is still breathing, you’re doing fine.” The words were not as comforting as they probably should have been (especially because Cas was living proof that just because the kid was breathing didn't mean he was okay) but it at least gave him something to tie himself to. 

“Alright.”

“Great, I’m going back to bed. Make sure Sammy texts me when you get this figured out. I’ll be back in a few days.” Then he said his goodbyes and hung up. 

Cas turned to give Sam back his phone, who was now making faces at Jack. They traded back and Cas set Jack back in his crib. Then, he just started talking, not about anything in particular, just anything that came to him in the moment. Eventually, Jack started to calm down and then he was asleep. It was like magic. 

Quietly, Cas and Sam left the room and returned to the living room, enjoying the silence. 

“Well, at least he’s asleep now.” Cas said with a sigh. 

Sam patted him on the shoulder. 

“Hey, you’re learning and he seems like a great kid Cas. I mean he was crying the whole time I was here but...I don't know, he seems good.” Sam finished. 

“Oddly, I know exactly what you mean.”

That wasn’t the last time that Cas had to call the Winchesters over because he needed help with Jack but it was the last time that he couldn't get Jack to sleep. It wasn't always easy but talking to him always worked eventually. In those moments it was nice that Cas was the only one in the room because it meant that he could just sit and watch him sleep, so calm and serene. 

*  
The next weekend, Dean finally met Jack at the friday night drinking session. An event that was taking place in Cas’s apartment for the week and for the moment was substituting alcohol for literally anything else, for obvious reasons. 

As Cas watched Dean interact with Jack he started to get the feeling that he may know more about babies then he let on. Which turned out to be oddly true. Over time Cas would find that as rugged as Dean tried to seem sometimes, he was actually really good at all of the baby stuff and he grew to have a real sweet spot for Jack. 

They all did. 

“He’s a cute kid Cas,” Dean said after Cas had put him to bed. 

“It's one of his strong suits.” Cas joked as he rejoined the others in his living room. 

Meanwhile, Sam raised his glass of baby watching appropriate beverage and proposed a toast. 

“To Cas, and his new status as a father,” Sam said triumphantly. “And to the beginning of the list of grievances from with week.” They all raised a glass then, as usual, they took turns listing the worst parts of their weeks and it was just like it had always been. They were just three guys sharing stories and Cas was just a random, normal, bookstore owner again, except now, just one room away there was a little human that was now fully dependent on him.


	2. Two Candles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few important moments for Jack as he grows.

Charlie was the Winchester’s best customer. 

Anytime that she needed anything she always came to them first be it merch, comics, film props, anything. She spent so much time in their store that she had earned herself a discount and a certain amount of familiarity with the boys. This is just a fancy way to say that she became a friend. 

It was this level of familiarity that allowed her to be a little bit stunned to come in one morning looking for the new issue of her favorite comic and instead find Dean Winchester standing behind the cash register with a little sandy haired baby strapped to his chest. Maybe she didn't know everything about Dean but she knew that he didn't have a kid...unless this was a very recent development. He could have been babysitting, but that also seemed unlikely as Dean really only had about three friends and one of those was her. The baby made contact with her but Dean was too busy looking over some notes on the desk to have seen her yet. 

She approached slowly. 

“Good morning.” She said pulling Dean away from what seemed to be online orders he had been pouring over. He smiled when he saw that it was her. 

“Hey Charlie, you want the new Miss. Marvel?” Dean asked casually, already pulling it out of the display case and acting as if nothing was different. This had been their routine for years now, she didn't need to anwer, only to pull her wallet out to pay, but usually there wasn't a third party there. 

“So does that mean that you’re not going to explain the baby?” She asked gesturing toward him with her wallet. 

“Its not whatever you’re thinking. His name is Jack, he’s Cas’s.” 

“I wasn't thinking anything.” Charlie teased holding her hands up defensively. “But where did he come from? I mean babies don't just fall out of the sky.” 

“It's kind of a long story, but you’ll probably be seeing a bit more of him around.” Dean looked down at Jack as he spoke about him and Jack tried in vain to grab for his face. “You wanna hold him?”

Charlie took her comic and shook her head. 

“No, baby’s aren't really my thing but he’s cute.” She booped him on the nose and he stared at her mesmerized for a second before something shiny on the counter caught his attention again. “So I guess since you’re looking after him that means that you are going to have an influence on him right?”

Dean didn't like the tone in her voice and responded cautiously. 

“Yes?”

“Well then you make sure that he grows up on the good stuff, Scooby Doo, Avatar, Harry Potter, the works” She said as seriously as if they were talking about the kids formal education but she said it with a sly smile. ‘Its important that we teach the next generation about good media.”

“Yes ma'am” Dean answered just as seriously, saluting her. That was the kind of agreement he could get behind. Charlie nodded to him respectfully and then her watch beeped to let her know that her bus would be coming in 10 minutes. 

“Alright I’ve got to go, I’ll be back on Wednesday for Wonder Woman.” She extended a finger to Jack again. “See you around little man.”

Then she was rushing out the door. 

As soon as she was out of sight Jack started to cry. Dean gingerly took him out of the harness on his chest and held him up till he was at his eyeliner. 

“Aw c'mon.” he whispered under his breath as he tried to decide what to do.He looked him up and down and didn't see anything physically wrong with him so he had to assume it had to do with Charlie. In the end he started bouncing Jack against his chest until he had gotten over the loss. When he spoke again it was quiet. “It’s alright kid, I get it, I like her too.” 

*

Jack was nine months old when he spoke his first word. 

It was a slow day at the bookshop and Cas had brought Jack down in a baby carrier and set him on the checkout counter next to where he was sitting. Over the months Cas had gotten in the habit of bringing Jack down with him while he worked and when there weren't a lot of people around, like there were on this day, he liked to read to him. On this day in particular, seeing that it was nearing Christmas, he was reading A Christmas Carol. He knew that Jack wouldn't understand any of it, but he always had the biggest smile when Cas read to him so maybe it didn't matter if he knew what was going on. 

“For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.” Cas read aloud, then, as he had also become accustomed to doing, he broke from the book to talk directly to Jack. “Now, you haven't witnessed Christmas yet but believe me, you will enjoy it.” At first Jack only gurgled happily back at Cas, his small form snuggled tightly in the his basket, but then the gurgles started to take form. 

This captured Cas’s full attention and he sat up to see if this would be the day. Recently the noises Jack had been making had seemed more and more like real words and Cas was optimistic that any day now he would finally be able to speak but it hadnt happened yet. Jack continued to struggle with the word that he was trying to express as Cas watched proudly but after a moment it seemed clear that he wasn't going to make it just yet. 

“You will get it soon Jack.” He said encouragingly as he settled back into his seat and picked the book back up. It was just as he was about to continue reading that he heard it. 

“Dad!” 

Cas lowered the book in surprise and Jack, excited that he seemed to have gotten Cas’s attention spoke again.

“Dad!!” 

Cas set the book back down and smiled warmly at Jack.

"That's right Jack, your dad's right here."

*

When Jack’s first birthday was small, just Cas and the Winchesters. It seemed silly to throw a big party (and Cas didn't exactly know enough people to throw one even if he had wanted to). It wasn't as if Jack would remember it so they just bought a few mini cupcakes and had a celebration in Cas’s living room. It wasn't anything special and Cas felt a little bad about it. He knew it was silly but birthdays were supposed to be special. So, when his second birthday rolled around Cas decided that they would be putting effort into it. He got a cake with “Happy Birthday” written on it in big letters, put up balloons and streamers around the apartment, and made sure to invite anyone who might care that Jack was a year older.

“Balloon!” Jack chirped as he watched Cas tieing balloons on the doorways. Cas had left the extras sitting on the kitchen table while he was working which was where Jack had spotted them. When Cas turned back around he found Jack standing on one of the kitchen chairs grabbing for a red balloon just on the edge. He seemed very satisfied once he had gotten it. 

“Jack do you know why I’m blowing up the balloons?” Cas asked, a little curious as to how much of this he understood. Jack rubbed his hand along the balloon's surface without looking up and shook his head. “It’s your birthday!” 

This time Jack did look up at him curiously. 

“Birth..day?”

“It means that today we are celebrating the day you were born.” Jack only mildly understood what this meant so Cas skipped to the part Jack would care about. “We’ll have cake and put up balloons and a bunch of people will come over to see you.” He explained. 

Cas wasn't sure what it was that he had said that Jack had latched onto, the people or the cake or what but whatever it was, Jack was suddenly very excited about his birthday. From that moment on he followed Cas around and helped him put up the decorations by holding boxes while he put things up and he couldn't wait for the party to come. Cas wasn't sure that he fully grasped the idea of what was happening but he at least was excited so it was okay. 

Cas was a little less excited. As said, he had tried to invite more people to the party this year and it had led to one very interesting choice. Most of the names were perfectly fine, the Winchesters would be there along with Sams’s girlfriend, a woman named Eileen (who had wanted to meet Jack for a while now), and Charlie who Jack had really taken a liking to but it wasn't any of those people who worried him. It was the wild card he had decided to invite against his better judgement, his brother Gabriel. Up to this point, none of Cas’s family had met Jack for what were probably obvious reasons but about a month before, Cas had gotten a call from Gabe. It was odd to hear from any of his family but it was what he said that really hit Cas as strange. 

He had asked how Cas was, how was the shop, how was his life but then after all of that… he had asked about Jack. He spoke with charisma as if there was nothing odd about the call at all but every once and awhile Cas thought he could catch a hint of worry in his tone. 

It was bizarre. 

Cas had answered his questions and Gabe went on about how he was happy to hear that Jack was doing well. He finished by saying that he hoped he would be able to meet him one day. This is the point when the thought of Jack's birthday party crossed Cas’s mind. He wasn't really sure what made him do it, it all happened so quickly but he asked Gabe to come. Something about having this weird emotional conversation after such a long silence made Cas want to see his brother again. 

Gabe accepted. 

And that was it, the call ended shortly after that and now here Cas was, waiting to see if his distant brother was actually going to come.

The conversation played over and over in Cas’s mind as he decorated. Now it's important to know that Gabriel was not a bad person like Lucifer was and he wasn’t hurt the way that Micheal was but he also wasn't the kind of man who called up his brothers and poured his heart out to them either. 

Just like the rest of them Cas’s father had left his mark on Gabriel and he had been running from it ever since. He wasn't a bad person, but he was never able to be a happy person either. Everytime Cas saw him he was in a different town, at a different job, with a different person, his whole life a revolving door of whatever he came in contact with. 

But he wasn't a bad person. 

That was what Cas kept reminding himself.

Needless to say, this was all very complicated but Cas just hoped that maybe this meant something. That maybe Gabe’s sudden interest in Cas’s son would bring back a bit of what Cas remembered from when they were young. 

But he wouldn't worry about that now, there were things to be done and whether it went well or not, Gabe was coming and there was no stopping it. 

*

It was about 6:00 when people started showing up. The Winchesters were first since they lived so close and Eileen wasn't far behind. Cas invited them in and led them to the living area where Jack was already huddled on the floor building a tower with some wooden blocks. He was moments away from finishing it when Dean scooped him up from behind making him scream, all be it playfully. Dean turned Jack so he could see that it was just him and Jack smiled. 

“Dean!” His eyes then traveled expectantly over Dean’s shoulder to where Sam stood with Elieen. “Sam!”

“Hey Jack.” Dean replied smiling softly.

Sam waved at Jack to get his attention and Jack waved back reluctantly, just then really noticing that Eileen was there. 

“Hey Jack I want you to meet someone.” Sam said, moving Eileen closer. “This is Eileen. She really wanted to meet you.”

Jack looked at her in that sort of contemplating way that Cas had never seen any other kid do. It was something he did whenever he met anyone, he would stare at them and look them up and down for a long moment as if trying to totally take them in before interacting. It wasn't something done out of fear necessarily, though sometimes he did get a little uneasy when meeting new people, but more with a kind of curiosity. In this moment he leaned up against Dean's shoulder to get a closer look at Eileen but did not speak. It was clearly starting to worry Elieen. When he noticed this, Cas, who had been watching all of this from in front of Dean, placed a soft hand on Jack's cheek. 

“Come on Jack, don't you want to say hi?” He asked carefully. 

“Hello” He said hesitantly, looking at her curiously. 

Eileen waved and smiled.

“Hi Jack.” She said softly. The group stood silently in an odd kind of anticipation like spectators on groundhog day waiting to see if the groundhog will see its shadow. Apparently this was enough for Jack. After a moment he began to wiggle so Dean would let him down and then waddled over to Eileen and hugged her leg.

“Hello.” He said again but with a more loving tone, making Sam release a sigh of relief. 

After that Sam and Eileen played with Jack on the floor for a little while as they waited for the rest of the guests to arrive. At one point Sam started signing something to Eileen. This was something he did a lot, partially because Elieen was deaf and it helped her to understand what was going on in situations where she could not lip read but more commonly because only Sam and Eileen knew sign language and it was a good way to send secret messages back and forth. Several times after a muffled laugh had been had at his expense Dean had vowed to learn but it hadn't happened yet.   
Jack found it extremely interesting. He stared mesmerized as Eileen signed back and this time reached for her hands pulling them down to examine them. It only confused him further when the two of them started laughing. 

A little later the doorbell rang again and it was Charlie. 

“I’m sorry I’m late.” She said apologetically as Cas let her in and showed her where she could leave her coat. “My DM decided to start a big fight five minuets before our session was over.”

“You are fine.” Cas replied, honestly just happy she came. 

“Now, where is the little monster?” She asked, already spotting him across the room. Jack had heard her voice and looked up from the zoo Sam and Eileen had been helping him build. “There you are!” She rushed over and tousled Jack's hair. He hugged her legs too. 

“Chawie” Jack cooed. He was still having trouble pronouncing her name but Charlie didn't seem to mind. She joined the other two as Jack continued to construct his zoo.   
Meanwhile Cas drafted Dean to help him get the cake. 

The two of them left the others in the living area and broke off to the kitchen where Cas had left the cake, still in all its packaging. As they worked they started talking. 

“So, have you heard anything from your brother yet?” Dean asked Cas as he was pulling out the birthday candles. They were a little warn down, maybe he should have bought new ones. 

“Not yet, he’s still supposed to be coming.” Cas grumbled and checked the wall clock. “Though he is now thirty minutes late.” 

Dean shrugged. 

“Well maybe you just got lucky and he forgot.” 

“Yes but-” Cas tried to say before realizing he wasn't fully sure what he was trying to say and stopping himself. He was silent for a moment as he collected his thoughts and then continued more confidently. “I... want him to be here.”

Dean, who was pulling down cake plates, paused to stare at him in confusion. 

“I thought you were worried he was going to ruin all of this.” He gestured vaguely to the living area where the rest were sitting. 

“I was but now that it's here, I think I would like to see him.” The words were surprising even to Cas as they came out of his mouth, but that was truely how he felt. It wasn't until the thought that he might not show up hit him that he realized that he really wanted Gabe there. “He may not be perfect, but he is still my brother.”

Dean nodded solemnly at that. 

“Now that I can understand.” There was a beat as he looked through the kitchen doorway to where his own brother was sitting with the others. After that beat it seemed the serious talk had gone on long enough and he changed the subject. “So, guess we should probably get this out there.”

Before Cas could say anything else Dean was quickly shuttling plates toward the coffee table the others were sitting around. Dean never really was one to enjoy an overly emotional moment. 

With the candles set Cas followed just a few minutes behind with the cake. When Jack saw it he lost all interest in the toys they had been playing with and stared wide eyed at the sugary monument. Cas set it down near the edge of the coffee table so that Jack could get to it and he started to scramble over to it. Sam caught him just as he was about to get at it with his hands. 

“Hold on.” He said securing Jack in his lap just out of reach of the cake. “You have to blow out the candles first!”

As if on cue Cas leaned down and began lighting the candles to which Jack just watched confused. 

“Why?” He asked a little impatiently. 

“Because,” Charlie said, always the one to spread magic in the world. “If you can blow them all out in one breath you get a wish and you can use it to wish for anything you want.” 

Jack's eyes went wide and then he started thinking very hard about what he might want to wish for. 

Just as it seemed that he was about to make up his mind and blow out the candles, the moment was interrupted by the ring of the doorbell. Instinctively, Dean and Cas looked at each other in an unspoken kind of understanding. Then, with a little bit of worry sitting in Cas’s gut he got up to answer the door. 

There behind it was Gabriel, in the flesh, wearing a heavy leather jacket and holding a large box with a bright green bow on the top. He quirked his head to the side a bit apologetically before Cas could say anything. 

“Sorry I’m late, I got lost on the way here. They’ve changed the roads around here since Dad owned the place.” Then he smiled in that cocky way he always did and Cas was happy to see his brother again. 

“It’s good to see you Gabriel.” He smiled back despite the worry he still held. He quickly moved to usure Gabriel into the apartment only to turn and find that the rest of them were staring at them. (Except for Jack who was splitting his time between them and the cake). It hadn't hit him until that moment that in all his worry Cas may have let on to his friends that Gabriel was going to be a problem. It was clear in the way that they watched him they were waiting for something to happen, so Cas tried to break the ice before Gabe caught on to the air of suspension radiating from them. “Everyone, this is my brother Gabriel. Gabriel this is Sam, Elieen, Dean, Charlie, and Jack.”

Before there was a chance for there to be an awkward silence Dean confidently stood and walked toward him, hand outstretched. 

“It's good to meet you.” He said cordially as he shook Gabes hand cutting right through the tension in the room. Cas would have to remember to thank him for that later. “You’re just in time for cake, Jack was just about to make his wish.”

“Oh is that so?” Gabe responded sending Jack a sly smile. “And do you have a wish in mind?” 

Jack nodded slowly, still unsure about Gabe. 

“Well then why are we still standing around here, let's let him make that wish.” 

Jack looked to Cas for confirmation that he was allowed to and Cas nodded that, yes he was. He then took in all the air his little lungs could take and in one blow was able to blow out the two little candles on the cake causing a cheer around the room. From here Gabe joined the rest of them sitting around the coffee table as Cas cut the cake. He gave Jack a small piece and as long as he had it he was pretty narrowly focused on it rather than anything else so it gave the rest of them time to talk. 

Surprisingly, Gabe melted right into the conversation with no problem. They talked about all the boring kind of things that kids tend to tune out like work and taxes. Charlie complained about her boss, Cas told funny stories about people that came into the book shop, Dean tried to one up Cas’s stories about the book shop, and throughout all of it Gabe fit right in. He even told them a little about it own life, things Cas didn't even know. He apparently had been working at some office in the city for about a year. It wasn't exactly a very Gabe profession but it was stable and Cas was happy to hear it. 

While the adults talked Jack had managed to get frosting all over the front of his face which Cas had to clean off and then they proceeded to let him open his presents and played some more on the floor. He got several new toys but the highlight was from the large green box that Gabe had brought. Inside was a stuffed snake that was at least four feet long and Jack loved it. There was no particular reason that Cas could tell as to why he liked it so much but that was just how kids were sometimes.  
Like he had with all the rest of them, Jack slowly warmed up to Gabe and by the end of the night the two of them were on the floor and Jack was having his new snake attack, Gabe, as Gabe, faked fear and Jack laughed. It was much less terrifying than it sounds. 

Around 8 o’clock Cas could tell that Jack was starting to get tired so he put him to bed and people started to leave. Eventually, it was just Cas and Gabe. 

They had been discussing something meaningless about the area and how it had changed when Gabe suddenly cut Cas off.

“Hey, you’re doing pretty good here baby brother.” he took a deep sip of the soda he had been drinking after he said it, obscuring his face behind a bright blue solo cup. 

“Thank you,” Cas said hesitantly. Gabe nodded at him but didn't push it any further than that but now that they were here Cas needed to know something. “Gabriel why did you suddenly want to come to this? To meet Jack?” 

Gabe seemed to have expected the question. He let in a deep breath as if summoning up some courage and then reached into his jacked pocket and retrieved a small piece of something.

“Do you remember this?” He said handing the piece over to Cas. It was an old polaroid picture of Cas when he must have been about five. He was standing amongst a bunch of pumpkins in front of the store dressed in a shirt and a jacket that were far too big for him. He did remember this. “It was halloween and you wanted to dress up as me for some reason.” he explained “I found that a while ago when I was moving and it just got me thinking about you and the rest of our family, about how close you and I used to be before I left. Then I started thinking about Jack and I just thought it was about time I made an effort to get to know all of you again.” 

This time he made no attempt to hide his face or guise the weariness behind his eyes. Cas handed the picture back to him.

“I’m glad you came back,” Cas said. “And if it's any consolation Jack seems to like you too, so if you really want to get back in touch...you’re welcome here.”

“Thank you, Cas.”

They ended up staying up much later than Cas was used to now that he had Jack but it was a nice time. He got to remeet his brother and talk to him in a way that they hadn't really talked since Cas’s high school graduation. Finally, deep into the night, Gabe left and Cas went to sleep, wondering why he was ever nervous to begin with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one got away from me a bit but I have some more concrete ideas for future chapters assuming that I ever write them. (this is a side project to my side project after all) Expect to see more characters as the story goes on but just know there will probably never really be a plot. This is about the randomness of life and the importance of the little moments so it will be told through the little moments.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is really just a bunch of little moments that popped into my mind as I thought up this odd little world and there could be more at some point. Do you have an idea for a moment you would like to see? leave me a comment, I'm down to do more. I also don't know when or if there will be another update but if there is it will be more stuff like this. (I"m thinking of maybe doing a Christmas thing)
> 
> Anyway, I know its not my best work but I hope that it made someone out there happy, let me know what you thought!


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